Poland's right-wing Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki suggested Thursday, on the eve of a visit to Berlin, that Germany is a NATO "free rider" that spends too little on collective defence.

Without naming Germany itself, Morawiecki criticised alliance members that spend less on defence than the targeted two percent of GDP repeatedly insisted upon by US President Donald Trump.

A country that benefits from NATO's collective defence but spends just one percent of GDP, Morawiecki told Germany's Die Welt daily, is "a free rider which threatens the unity of the West".

Germany's military spending amounts to 1.2 percent of gross domestic product.

Morawiecki also charged that "Europe isn't taking defence seriously and living under the umbrella of Pax Americana," according to the German-language article.

"But for Europe, too, the saying goes: If you want peace, prepare for war."

He also voiced disbelief that many Germans trust Russian President Vladimir Putin more than Trump, exclaiming that it made him think "run while you can! It's an upside down world."

Poland has sparred with Germany and the European Union over a range of issues, including its refusal to take in an EU quota of refugees, and controversial judicial reforms.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel days ago welcomed Morawiecki's upcoming visit as a chance to open "a new chapter" in relations despite "divergent views on some issues".

However, Morawiecki pointed to other areas of friction, including plans for a Russia-Germany gas pipeline called NordStream 2 that would run through the Baltic Sea and bypass Poland.

He argued that if the new pipeline replaced one now carrying Russian gas through Ukraine, then Russia could "escalate the conflict with Ukraine, attack all of Ukraine".

The Polish prime minister also defended a controversial Holocaust bill that would penalise statements attributing Nazi crimes to the Polish state, notably by referring to "Polish death camps".

Poland, which had lost half a century to war and communism, had long been treated as a "whipping boy", he said, adding that it must now be able to "tell the truth about this time".

EU agrees common defence is NATO 'mission alone'
Brussels (AFP) Feb 15, 2018 - The transatlantic alliance and the EU agree "the common defence is a NATO mission alone," US Defence Secretary James Mattis said Thursday after talks on Brussels' own new defence pact.

NATO ministers met Wednesday with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to discuss their concerns over duplication after Brussels agreed in December to develop new military equipment and improve cooperation and decision-making.

"There is a clear understanding to include in written EU documents that the common defence is a NATO mission and a NATO mission alone," Mattis told a press conference in Brussels.

Mattis said discussions were "very candid" between NATO, which includes European members, and Mogherini.

"We have sufficient rigour in the political sharing, the political discussions, to keep the EU effort, for example on military mobility," Mattis said.

He said the EU can "enhance NATO common defense capabilities and does not draw from them."

The EU's so-called permanent structured cooperation on defence agreement, known as PESCO, has projects in view already to develop new military equipment and improve cooperation and decision-making.

But on Sunday a senior official working with Mattis said Washington had concerns that some of the proposed initiatives risked "pulling resources or capabilities away from NATO".

NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said the right balance could be struck when he opened talks among the 29-member NATO defence ministers on Wednesday.

"Done in the right way, these efforts can make a contribution to fairer burden-sharing between Europe and North America," Stoltenberg told reporters.

Stoltenberg has warned there was "no way" the EU could replace the transatlantic alliance in guaranteeing European security.

"It will be absolutely without any meaning if NATO and the EU start to compete," the former Norwegian premier told reporters on Tuesday.

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Allies have 'much work' to share burden with US: NATO chief
Brussels (AFP) Feb 14, 2018
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that European allies had "much work" ahead to share the defence burden with Washington and also warned the EU to ensure its new defence pact avoids duplicating alliance work. Despite the differences, Stoltenberg said US Defense Secretary James Mattis and his fellow NATO ministers agreed to modernise its command structure in the face of a more assertive Russia and perceived threats from the Middle East. "We had a productive and forward-looking discussion ... read more